The overlap of human and animal diseases creates extraordinary opportunities to accelerate research and progress in new therapies and treatments. By studying diseases across species, researchers gain insights that are not always possible through traditional laboratory models. They can also evaluate promising new approaches and bring better diagnostics and treatments to patients more quickly.
A coyote makes a brief mysterious appearance on Alcatraz; tiny kitten makes amazing recovery; dog rescued from landfill; hawk flight maneuver insights; predicting and preventing zoonotic diseases; and screwworm spread causes big concern.
Plastics in petrel chicks; genetic causes found for Addison’s disease in dogs and a fatal foal disease; and understanding vision loss in monkeys and humans.
Translational medicine brings foundational scientific lab discoveries into new clinical treatments for animals and humans. The journey can sometimes be long and arduous with research dead ends, U-turns and setbacks. But when a novel therapy finally proves successful in halting disease progress and improving quality of life—for two-legged or four-legged animals—UC Davis researchers say that’s when long years of persistence make the process worthwhile.
Defining moments often begin with a simple connection, even a conversation between friends. When Ken Hao heard from his friend, Sandy Weill, about his family’s historic gift to the school early this year, it sparked a desire to be part of a transformational moment at UC Davis.
In April, Hao and his wife, Kathy Chiao, announced their own extraordinary gift—$75M directed toward key efforts to advance translational medicine and access to care, support future veterinarians, and accelerate the construction of a new Small Animal Hospital that will bear their name.
For someone who gets a bit squeamish about blood from herself or other humans, it may seem counterintuitive that Dr. Grace VanHoy became a board-certified internist in large animal medicine with surgical expertise. (If you’ve ever witnessed a bovine c-section, you know it’s not for the faint of heart.)
The Janice K. Hobbs UC Davis Veterinary Medical Center Southern California opened in October 2026, welcoming patients with expanded specialties and 24/7 emergency and critical care services.
The new center—an expansion of the UC Veterinary Medical Center, San Diego—realizes the school’s vision to serve more animals throughout Southern California and beyond. The current San Diego center was established more than 20 years ago with support from a state allocation intended to expand veterinary care in the region.
More than 450 staff members help provide compassionate expert care at the UC Davis veterinary hospital. Meet four of these unsung heroes of veterinary medicine.
Dr. Antonio Tardo joined the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology as assistant professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine this May. He shared his experiences of pursuing a veterinary medicine career in his home country of Italy and what brought him to UC Davis.Tell us about your journey to veterinary medicine.
I grew up in Sicily in the south of Italy and always had a passion for dogs and cats. I must thank my dad for that. My first dog, Pietra, was a giant white Maremma sheepdog … the cutest dog ever! I could crawl all over her and play with her puppies.
